Logan (2017 Film) James Mangold

Box office

Logan grossed $226.3 million in the United States and Canada and $392.7 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $619.2 million, against a production budget of $97 million.[2] Worldwide, the film had a global debut of $247.4 million from 82 markets, as well as the second-biggest R-rated IMAX debut, with $20.6 million from 1,068 screens.[238] The film grossed $440.9 million in its first 13 days of release, surpassing the entire theatrical gross of The Wolverine ($414.8 million).[239][240]

United States and Canada

Predictions for its opening in the US and Canada were revised upwards from $55 million to $80 million or even higher.[241][242][243][244][245] Fox, however, predicted an opening in the mid-$60 million range.[246] Some critics said the film's R rating—the second such for a X-Men film—might hinder the film's mass appeal.[242] Two days before the film's release, ticket selling site Fandango reported that the film was outpacing all previous X-Men movies (except Deadpool) at the same point in their sales cycle.[247]

Logan was released in 4,071 theaters, the widest release for an R-rated film, breaking American Sniper's previous record of 3,888 theaters. Five hundred and eighty theatres were premium large-format screens,[241] including 381 IMAX theaters, setting the IMAX record for an R-rated film.[248]

Logan earned $9.5 million from Thursday night previews, which began at 7 p.m. This marked the second-biggest previews in the X-Men franchise, behind Deadpool's $12.7 million.[249] On its opening day, the film scored the biggest R-rated March opening with $33.1 million, breaking 300's previous record, as well as the third-biggest R-rated opening day, after Deadpool ($47.3 million) and The Matrix Reloaded ($37.5 million).[250] Earning a total of $88.4 million during its opening weekend, the film scored the biggest Wolverine movie opening, the biggest R-rated March opening, the fourth-biggest March opening weekend behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166 million), The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) and Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million), the fifth-largest X-Men opening, and the fourth-biggest R-rated opening weekend overall (ninth in terms of inflation adjusted) behind Deadpool ($132.4 million), The Matrix Reloaded ($91.7 million) and American Sniper ($89.2 million).[251][252][253] This made it the highest opening weekend for a 2017 film at the time of its release, surpassing The Lego Batman Movie ($53 million).[254][255] It was also the biggest R-rated opening weekend that did not take place on a holiday.[256] Additionally, Logan achieved the fifth-highest opening weekend for any 20th Century Fox film, trailing only behind Deadpool ($132.4 million), Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($108.4 million), X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.7 million) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8 million).[251] About 8.2% of the total ticket sales were in Canada, with premium large formats comprising $12.3 million (15%) from 558 screens, and IMAX comprising $10 million (12%) of the film's total opening weekend.[257]

The opening-weekend audience was 63% males and 83% people between 18 and 44 years old.[257] In an opening-weekend poll conducted by Fandango, 71% of responders said that more superhero films should be rated R, while 86% were interested in seeing a more violent, adult X-Men film that weekend. Furthermore, 96% said they were excited to see Hugh Jackman, 94% were intrigued to see Patrick Stewart reprise his role as Professor X, and 76% were interested in watching newcomer Dafne Keen.[258]

In its second weekend, the film dropped 56.9%, grossing $38.1 million and finishing second at the box office behind newcomer Kong: Skull Island ($61 million).[240] In its third weekend, it made $17.8 million, finishing in third behind Beauty and the Beast ($174.8 million) and Kong: Skull Island ($27.8 million).[259] In its fourth weekend, it made $10.1 million, dropping 43.1% from the previous week and finishing 5th at the box office.[260]

Other countries

Logan was projected to open as high as $105 million. However, US forecasters believed that it could post an even higher opening if it were to overperform in major markets—most notably China. It opened day-and-date in almost every major market except Japan, where Doraemon the Movie 2017 was released. Fox ultimately decided to postpone the film's release there in order to avoid competition.[241] Through Sunday, the film exceeded expectations and posted a five-day opening worth $159 million from 81 markets. This is Fox International's third-biggest launch of all time, behind X-Men: Days of Future Past ($172 million) and Avatar ($164 million).[238] It debuted at No. 1 in 80 markets, surpassing Fifty Shades of Grey ($156 million) to have the highest international opening weekend for an R-rated film. It broke the record for the biggest R-rated IMAX release ever and the biggest 2D IMAX opening, with $10.6 million on 687 screens.[238]

China is the movie's best-grossing market outside America, contributing $106 million in box office.[261] The film was the first to feature an age-restriction warning in its marketing material, as required by a Film Promotion Law that took effect on March 1, 2017. Nevertheless, the film is still trimmed by 14 minutes, totaling 123 minutes. It is very likely that the move was due to usual censorship by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, because of the violence depicted.[262] Despite such restrictions, the film managed to debut with a better-than-expected $48.9 million, including previews, according to data from Ent Group (Fox reported $46.3 million). This marked the second-biggest X-Men opening in the country, trailing behind only Apocalypse. Tracking showed that the film opened with 85,000 screenings on Friday, which increased to about 95,000 on Saturday and Sunday, from a 9.98 million attendance. Included within that total was $4.4 million from 388 IMAX screens.[263]

In Brazil, it recorded the biggest opening for Fox, and the seventh-biggest opening overall, with $8.2 million. The top openings were in China ($46.3 million), Korea ($8.2 million), and Russia ($7.1 million).[238] In the UK, Logan made $11.4 million during its opening weekend, beating The Lego Batman Movie to reach the number one spot, while also achieving the second-highest opening weekend of the year, behind Sing.[264] Meanwhile, in India, the film debuted with an estimated 17 crore ($2.5 million) net, equating to a gross of $3.4 million, on 1,400 screens. According to Fox, that was the highest debut for any X-Men title in the territory, marginally ahead of X-Men: Apocalypse. While the debut was not enough to break any significant records, it ranked as the second-biggest opening weekend for a Hollywood release in the January–March quarter, behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[265]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 429 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "Hugh Jackman makes the most of his final outing as Wolverine with a gritty, nuanced performance in a violent but surprisingly thoughtful superhero action film that defies genre conventions."[266] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[267] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak-surveyed audiences gave the film a rare five out of five.[257] Some reviewers noted Logan as one of the greatest superhero films ever made.[268] Critics praised the film for its emotional depth, Mangold's direction, action sequences, screenplay, uncompromising tone, thematic profundity, and the performances of Jackman, Keen and Stewart.[269][270]

Scott Collura of IGN gave Logan a score of 9.7/10, and called it, "an emotional, heavy picture, but it's also an uplifting one that reminds us that it's okay to fight for something more, something better", and "perhaps the best X-Men movie yet."[271] A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave an 'A−' and said that "[the film] manages to deliver the visceral goods, all the hardcore Wolverine action its fans could desire, while still functioning as a surprisingly thoughtful, even poignant drama—a terrific movie, no 'comic-book' qualifier required".[272] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave it a 'B−', and called it "both the most violent film in the series and the most sentimental one. When it's not showering you in blood, it's trying to make you spill tears."[273] Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter reacted positively, saying: "Seamlessly melding Marvel mythology with Western mythology, [director] James Mangold has crafted an affectingly stripped-down standalone feature, one that draws its strength from Hugh Jackman's nuanced turn as a reluctant, all but dissipated hero."[274]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it 4/5, stating "It is more like a survivalist thriller than a superhero film, and signals its wintry quality with the title itself" and compared Wolverine's hitting of his truck during the film to Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers.[275] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave it 3.5/4 and said, "In terms of tone and content, Logan is Deadpool's polar opposite but both productions refuse to play by traditional superhero movie rules ... With his glimpse into what superhero movies can be, James Mangold has given us something sadly lacking in recent genre entries: hope."[276] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com stated, "Logan has stakes that feel real, and fight choreography that's fluid and gorgeous instead of just computer-generated effects. Most importantly, Logan has characters with which you identify and about whom you care. It's not just 'great for a superhero movie', it's a great movie for any genre."[277]

Brian Truitt of USA Today said, "Easily the best Wolverine outing, Logan is [the] Dark Knight of the mutant-filled X-franchise, a gripping film that transcends the comic-book genre by saying something important."[278] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave 3.5/4, and called it "a hard-ass, R-rated rager that explodes with action".[279] Amy Nicholson of MTV called it "a phenomenal, throat-slashing, gut-stabbing superhero movie".[280] Germain Lussier of io9 said, "Logan is beautiful, sophisticated, and still a kick-ass superhero film".[281] Debbie Holloway of Crosswalk gave the film a rating of 4/5, praising how the "script also has several powerful themes, and is truly deft in its handling of them."[282] Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound called the film "A game-changing masterpiece".[283] Matt Donato of We Got This Covered said, "It's not just one of the best superhero movies ever, it's a damn-fine cinematic representation of the human condition in all its agonizing forms."[284] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal said, "It's the best superhero film to come out of the comic-book world, and I'm not forgetting Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'."[285] Jackman's acting as Wolverine has been praised, and his performance topped The Hollywood Reporter's Greatest Superhero Movie Performances of All Time list.[286]

Anthony Lane of The New Yorker was underwhelmed, commenting on the film's parallel with Shane, "These quiet images (from Shane) brand themselves on the mind, and the gunshots come as an overwhelming release, whereas when Logan and Laura unleash their furious scythes nothing feels settled or satisfied."[287] Mara Reinstein of Us Weekly gave the movie 2.5/4 and specified, in a lukewarm review, that "[t]he film loses its way during the 20-minutes-too-long journey. For all the breathless talk about how Logan transcends the superhero genre, there's nothing groundbreaking about a road trip movie in which adults try to elude the bad guys to protect a super-special child."[288] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave it 2/4 and said, "Logan is deadly serious, and while its gamer-style killing sprees are meant to be excitingly brutal, I found them numbing and, in the climax, borderline offensive."[289] Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine said, "The grim side of human nature is all over James Mangold's Logan. But that doesn't necessarily make it a good movie."[290]

Accolades